Canada's Safest Employers awards recognize companies from all across Canada with outstanding accomplishments in promoting the health and safety of their workers. The program boasts 10 industry-specific safety awards and four special awards.

The COS Safety Leader of the Year recognizes an individual who best exemplifies leadership and vision in the world of OHS in Canada. Co-workers, employees, bosses or anyone can submit a nomination for a deserving leader.

Ontario is consulting on proposed changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that would require employers to ensure that construction workers complete a construction hazard awareness training program.

"Our top priority is the health and safety of our workers. These proposed training requirements would help provide workers with awareness of hazards in construction and the need to access the training required to prevent injuries and get home safely to their families every night,” said George Gritziotis, chief prevention officer.

The ministry is seeking feedback on a regulatory proposal that outlines two training approaches to ensure workers receive awareness training on common construction hazards, including a training standards-based approach. The consultation is also seeking feedback on the content of the draft construction health and safety awareness training program and provider standards that would be established by the chief prevention officer.

The draft standards were developed by the ministry and an industry working group made up of employer, labour, small business representatives and subject matter experts.

From 2009 to 2014, the construction sector represented on average seven per cent of total employment in Ontario. During this period, traumatic fatalities in construction accounted for 30 per cent of traumatic fatalities in all sectors.

Since Ontario introduced new mandatory working at heights training standards, more than 107,000 learners have taken the new working at heights course.